Clipping from the Halifax Herald18 October 1907

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Messages Alleged to Have
Been Transmitted With-
out Slightest Difficulty

But London Daily Mail
Failed to Receive Its
Despatch

No Definite Public De-
monstration That Mess-
ages are Being
Forwarded

GLACE BAY, October 17— Your
correspondent was present this after-
noon at Port Morien when the com-
mercial wireless service between Can-
ada and Ireland was inaugurated by
Marconi. The messages exchanged
were sent by Sir Wilfred Laurier,
Lord Strathcona, Sir Hiram Maxim,
the lord mayor of London and other
notable men, and the first newspaper
to get a story from the other side
was the New York Times. A cable
just received from the London Mail,
says that the message handed in for
transmission this afternoon at four
o'clock, had not yet been received in
London.
MARCONI SAYS10,000 WORDS SENT
Marconi said that over ten thou-
sand words had been received and
sent today and not a single word had
to be repeated. The inventor said
that he had nothing new to tell and
when asked if he would make a state-
ment for the press said he had noth-
ing to say. He had been so busy all
day that he was sorry he could not
give the newspaper men a better re-
ception. In a few days, he said, a
press service would be inaugurated
between the towers and ships at sea
so that press messages may be sent
each day.
HE CAN LOCATESHIPS AT SEA
It is possible for Marconi to locate
a ship anywhere at sea and in a test
made by the wireless people for the
British admiralty a British warship
went to sea under sealed orders and
while she remained in touch with the
Marconi system the chart of the
course she had taken was made up
at the wireless station that corres-
ponded exactly with that of the ship.
Asked if it was possible for a mes-
sage to be intercepted the inventor
said "No," and even if one was cop-
ied by a fluke it could not be done
again if the matter was found out, as
the tuneing apparatus of the sending
and receiving station would at once
be altered. Two messages may be
received on the one set of wires at the
same time and today at Morien mes-
sages were being received and sent
over the same set of aerials.
MESSAGES FROM PRESIDENTAND PREMIER
A wire was sent by the London
Daily Mail to President Roosevelt
conveying greetings to the American
people. Sir Wilfred Laurier sent
greetings of Canada to the mother
country. The operating room is about
twenty feet long and about twelve feet
wide, and is equipped with three keys.
Right in front of that room is the
transformer room where 8 or 10
transformers are at work transform-
ing the current up to a very high
voltage. The key is connected to an
ordinary wire which wire is connect-
ed with the aerial by means of a
strap buckle which pokes. A funnel
like tube spouts flame when the op-
erator touches the key. This in turn
communicates to the jump spark and
on to the aerials. The noise on the
wire is like a number of whips being
cracked.
DEFINITE DEMONSTRATIONIS LACKING
The whole process is most inter-
esting and while it is difficult to get
any definite demonstration that mes-
sages are really being sent yet, both
Marconi and Vyvyan claim that they
have been sending and receiving. A
cable was sent to the London Mail
at 8:30 tonight asking if a message
from the New York World had been
received, and this is the reply: "No
message received from New York
World." The reply by cable was sent
and received in twenty minutes. There
is a feeling, however, that Marconi
has solved the problem successfully
and time will tell whether this view
is correct.
SAW THE OPERATIONSTHROUGH WINDOW
At the invitation of the man-
agement representatives of the
press and a few prominent
local citizens attended. They
were shown through the power house
by Manager R. N. Vyvyan, who stat-
ed that transatlantic messages had
been sent and received all day. Mes-
sages had been transmitted from Lord
Strathcona, Sir Hiram Maxim,
President Roosevelt and from Sir Wil-
fred Laurier to the British people
through the press. One operator was
working this afternoon sending mes-
sages for a time and then receiving.
The guests viewed his operations
through a window, but were not ad-
mitted to the operating room. Mr.
Marconi, who was superintending the
work, spoke for a few moments to
the press representatives, expressing
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(CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE)
his entire satisfaction with the op-
eration of the system. Between five
and ten thousand words were handled
today.
"I feel confident that the system
will continue to work satisfactorily."
Marconi said. "There has not been
the slightest hitch today. We can
handle about thirty words per min-
ute at present and have Western
Union and C. P. R. connections with
the station. Messages are being
handled without any delay."
Several messages were filed by
press representatives but replies had
not been received when the party left
for town. Mr. Marconi said these
messages could not be sent till to-
morrow, owing to accumulation of
work.
ACCEPTING BUSINESS INBRITISH CAPITAL
LONDON, October 17— Marconi's
wireless opened for business here to-

day, charging the ordinary 6½d per
word, with a minimum of 6s. 6d.
as against the cable rate of one shil-
ling without the minimum, and press
messages 2½d. The cable press rate
is 5d. Filed with Marconi at noon,
sixty words message. The manager
sends your correspondent the follow-
ing: "I will send your message to
Clifden, but I cannot guarantee that
it will be transmitted today. We have
only a limited service for the first
day, and cannot handle any quantity
of matter from one source. The di-
rector of one of the leading cable
companies told me that they were
quite undisturbaed and as yet felt no
pinch though he admitted it was un-
wise to belittle the new rival. He
admitted that if Marconi succeeded at
anything like half the present rates,
the old cable companies would prob-
ably have to bring their rates down,
but he felt pretty confident that with-
out the celerity and surety which is
an essential with business the Mar-
coni competition would be of small
account.

More clippings about the 1907 opening
for regular commercial operation of
Marconi's first transatlantic station
in North America